The martial arts, such as karate, kung fu and the like, are oriental disciplines of self defense. Martial artists rely on a repertoire of punches and kicks to strike and cripple an adversary. Students of the martial arts are required to spend significant amounts of time in training. The kicking and punching motions must be repetitiously practiced to obtain the accuracy, force and bodily coordination required to become proficient in the art.
A standard martial art training technique is for two students to practice their punches and kicks in a sparring match. Both sparring partners, however, are at risk of becoming injured. Repeated kicks to the sparring partner can result in the severe bruising of the foot. Alternatively, the recipient of an errant kick can be severely injured.
To reduce the chance of injury, a number of protective martial art training shoes are available. These shoes are generally made of energy-absorbing materials and are designed to soften the force of impact of the foot. See, for example, Hunderford in U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,140 and Rhee in U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,493.
Rhee in U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,722 discloses a protective shoe for the martial arts. The shoe comprises a continuous one piece outer casing which covers the top portion of the foot. Two straps are used to secure the shoe to the foot. One end of each strap is attached to the top of the casing. The other end of each strap is wrapped completely around the entire casing and the bottom of the foot. The second ends of both straps are secured to the top of the casing to securely hold the foot within the casing.
Several safety problems and inconveniences exist with the Rhee shoe. The area of the casing where the straps are attached is often a kick contact point, which means the rough surface of the straps often comes into contact with the recipient of the kick. The rough surface of the straps can cause irritation and punctures to the skin. Secondly, without a shoe tongue in the casing, exit and entry from the casing is difficult because the opening into which the foot is inserted can not be expanded. Lastly, the use of two straps as opposed to one to secure the shoe casing to the foot is time consuming.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a perspective view of another prior art protective shoe is shown. The protective shoe 10 includes a unitary casing 12 having a shoe tongue 14, a back 16, a first side 17 and a second side 18, and a substantially open sole 19 (not shown). A single elastic strap 20, fastened to the back 16 of the casing 12 is used to securely fasten the protective shoe to the foot.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, two sequential drawings are provided to illustrate an intermediate and a final stage, respectively, of strap 20 being completely wrapped around shoe upper 12 and the foot. In FIG. 2, the first end of the strap 20 is shown attached to the shoe back 16. Strap 20 is then stretched along first side 17 of the casing, crossed over tongue 14, down second side 18, passed underneath the sole 19, and is returned to first side 17 of the casing. In FIG. 3, strap 20 is criss-crossed over the tongue 14 and completely wrapped around the foot. The first and second ends of strap 20 are attached to one another at shoe back 16 by a hook and loop fabric fastener (not shown).
Several problems exist with the prior art as set forth above with respect to FIGS. 1 through 3. It is inconvenient for the martial artist to wrap and unwrap the elastic strap each time shoe 10 is put on or taken off. Additionally, since the elastic band is wrapped completely around the foot, blood circulation may be restricted to the foot if the strap is pulled too tightly. This may impede the performance of the martial artist as well as cause circulation related injuries to the foot.